The route was familiar to me, but I also knew that the forecast was for certain rain by mid-afternoon; I hoped to be safely (and dry-ly) under my shelter at camp by then. In the distance the clouds re-affirmed the forecast.
I was surrounded by landmarks that, despite several months' absence, were very familiar.
The highest peaks still held a surprising amount of snow given how mild winter had been.
After a short stop for lunch, I climbed the final switchbacks to camp, located a suitable campsite, pitched my shelter, and watched the storm while waiting for the others to arrive.
The destination had in part been chosen since it was an ideal place to observe the forecast storms--and they didn't disappoint.
Lots of gratuitous storm pr0n...
Despite the short hike to camp, I had no trouble falling asleep for a nap, lulled to rest by the sound of rain hitting my shelter.
Soon enough the others did arrive, and after pitching the tent, the clouds enveloped our campsite.
A few times the clouds broke, and the sun almost felt warm, but these brief interludes of light were the exception, and the clouds would soon return.
Eventually the clouds did seem to be dissipating a bit, and we watched low clouds blow from the direction of Tenaya Lake towards Glen Aulin and beyond.
The next morning there were a few lingering clouds, but--so far--no threat of immediate storms.
We took our time cooking and eating breakfast and packing to go... we really didn't have anywhere to be in a hurry.
We followed the trail back to the Glen Aulin/Raisin Lake/Murphy Creek/Ten Lakes/Mystery Trail junction area, but of course chose to first head towards Raisin Lake, then dropped down to Murphy Creek following open granite most of the way.
After crossing a small meadow along Murphy Creek...
...we sought out more granite on the far side of the trail.
We stopped near the trailhead so JKW could get a final soak before we returned to civilization proper.
Since this had been our first visit to Tuolumne in quite a while, we did the normal touristy things: had a cheeseburger and soft-serve at the grill, then headed to Tioga Pass to look for a boundary marker, which unfortunately appears to have been a victim of the widening of the Tioga Road.
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